Six of nine school superintendents in Ontario County districts earn less than the state average for districts outside New York City, while superintendents in Canandaigua, Victor and Midlakes all earn more than the average of $166,550.

That’s according to the latest data from SeeThroughNY, a transparency website sponsored by the Empire Center for Public Policy that compiles earnings for nearly all of the 385,000 employees in the state’s public school districts outside the city. The average salary dollar figure comes from the New York State Council of Superintendents.

The salary of superintendents, who hold the top administrative position, is often the most scrutinized because it generally pays out the highest chunk of change for a district position.

In Ontario County, the top three salaries are at Midlakes (Phelps-Clifton Springs), $209,493; Canandaigua City School District, $179,131; and Victor Central Schools, $173,582. The remaining six districts fall below the average, ranging from $151,828 at Bloomfield Central School, down to the lowest, $110,409 at Red Jacket (Manchester-Shortsville).

Glenn Norsen, who served nine years on the Board of Education at Midlakes, which pays the highest superintendent salary in Ontario County, said superintendent salaries are too high. A computer programmer who works in the private sector, Norsen said he has had his own wages frozen for years. Meanwhile, the cost of education and the taxes to pay for it have risen above what people can afford, said Norsen, who has two grown children who went through the school system.

Bristol resident Steve Kepner said as a taxpayer who likes to know how public money is spent. But he is concerned schools have too many positions, he said, adding that administrator salaries are particularly important to watch because they are the highest.

According to experts, the majority of superintendent salaries statewide are not growing, and a lack of candidates is making it difficult to find replacements after superintendents leave.

“Over the last four years, the average superintendent salary for the state as a whole has been flat,” said Robert Lowry Jr., New York State Council of Superintendents deputy director for advocacy research and communications. “It’s gone up less than 1 percent over four years.”

Districts are trying to keep future salary increases in line in tight budgets due to the 2 percent state-mandated tax cap, and an increasing number of administrators are taking wage freezes.

The highest-paid superintendents are in the Long Island and Mid-Hudson regions, according the newly-released data. The lowest paid are in the Mohawk Valley and Southern Tier.

The Finger Lakes and Central New York are slightly above the average paid and are comparable to the Capital Region.

Public teacher pay rises

For public teacher salaries, average pay for members of New York State Teachers Retirement System has risen 11 percent statewide since 2008, the newly-posted data at SeeThroughNY shows.

Page 2 of 2 - Since 2008, coinciding with the start of the Great Recession, including part-time substitutes, public teachers in Long Island schools had the highest average 2012-13 pay at $76,758, while those in the Mohawk Valley region had the lowest average pay at $37,591.